Ignore the Noise
How to oppose the realpolitk of the regime
What is happening in our country and in Gaza are examples of realpolitik. In each case the government is taking advantage of acting in ways that cannot be effectively opposed under the system of rules that the world plays by. The practical action profoundly changes the historical facts of the situation. In Gaza, Israel commits genocide and attempts to solve a problem of eighty years not with justice, but with death and destruction. It is sickening to behold and tragic beyond comprehension. The seemingly infinite number of miscalculations, bad faith, and inhumanity displayed by both sides over the last eighty years is a testament to all that is evil and a tragic example of the shortcomings and failures of the institutions created to promote peace.
The Trump regime’s attack on democracy in America also utilizes realpolitik to achieve its goals. The whole program relies on taking practical action that cannot be effectively opposed. The executive branch controls all of the policing functions of the federal government and the only means of checking dictatorial power is held by Congress, but Congress has been castrated. The courts can push back but in the final analysis they lack the power to restrain an executive branch acting in bad faith.
The regime utilizes propaganda to shape a narrative that appeals to those who have succumbed to the lies in advance and to distract those who would oppose them. As long as the propaganda works they will have a base of support and the opposition will be kept disunited and reeling from crisis to crisis.
If this regime had a modicum of competence, or at least a competent leader, we would be doomed. Trump is a con man, a crook, and a malignant narcissist, but he is profoundly incompetent. He has mostly surrounded himself with incompetence. The programs that the regime are putting into place and the destruction of programs that worked for the American people are resulting in real pain and suffering that has not gone unnoticed, even by those who have supported him. His polling numbers are plummeting.
If enough people stop being distracted by the daily barrage of disinformation and lies and recognize that the choice is either rising up together in opposition, or succumbing to an authoritarian dictatorship, then we will have a chance to fight back. In order to win we will have to learn how to ignore the firehose of misinformation, lies, and heinous acts that keep us outraged, but feeling helpless. We need to keep our focus on the realization that we can only stop these things from happening by retaking our government and reestablishing democracy. If this were Nazi Germany I would say that you don’t save the Jews by protesting against the anti-Jewish laws that are being written, you save the Jews by getting rid of the regime that is killing them. This is where we are now. We are all outraged by the attacks on civil rights underway, on the assault on the Constitution, but our outrage and our support of those who oppose these heinous actions are not going to stop them. Only getting into the streets and bringing down this regime will stop what is happening.